This invention relates to interactive television program guides, and more particularly, this invention relates to systems and methods for using an interactive television program guide application to access fantasy sports contests.
In known fantasy sports contests, a user (i.e., a fantasy sports contestant) selects a roster, a team, a particular individual, or a group of individuals in a season-long athletic competition. Fantasy sports contests are typically based on real-life team sports (e.g., football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, rugby, etc.), real-life athletic events in which individuals compete (e.g., golf, tennis, automotive racing, etc.), and real-life sporting events involving animals (e.g., horse and dog racing). The user is given the ability to take on the role of a fictional general manager with powers which may include the ability to draft, trade, dismiss and otherwise manage the user's fantasy sports roster selections.
Known fantasy sports contest systems provide services to users which include providing statistical information for real-life athletic competition and tracking users' standings (i.e., rankings) in fantasy sports contests. Known fantasy sports contest systems typically determine a user's standing (i.e., ranking) in a fantasy sports contest based on the performance of the user's fantasy sports roster selections in real-life athletic competition. For example, a conventional fantasy sports contest system might award five fantasy sports contest points to the user for every goal scored in real-life by a member of the user's fantasy sports contest soccer team. Generally, the user who has accumulated the most fantasy sports contest points by the conclusion of a fantasy sports contest (e.g., the end of a real-life athletic season) is the overall winner of that fantasy sports contest.
Fantasy sports contestants typically track closely real-life athletic events. In particular, because fantasy sports contests are traditionally intimately tied to real-life athletic competition, a user's performance in a contest often hinges on the user's ability to, for example, plan favorable trades and otherwise knowledgeably control the user's fantasy sports team. A fantasy sports contestant traditionally consults with any number of sources including newspapers, sports journals, digests, and television in attempts to maximize the user's personal body of knowledge regarding the user's fantasy sports contest.
Known interactive television program guide systems contribute little to fantasy sports contestants and fantasy sports competition. In particular, despite steady growth in the field of interactive television program guides, known systems have failed to address the issues and concerns of fantasy sports contestants.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide systems and methods for using an interactive television program guide application to access fantasy sports contests.